Former PDP National Legal Advisor Mark Jacob has stated that while the actions of suspended Rivers State Governor Sim Fubara and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike following their meeting with President Bola Tinubu may indicate a reconciliation, it is anti-democratic to suspend elected officials.
Tinubu reportedly met with suspended Rivers Assembly members, Fubara, and Wike at the Presidential Villa in Abuja late Thursday.
The meeting happened three months after a contentious political crisis in the oil-producing state led Tinubu to suspend Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and members of the Rivers Assembly.
Following the encounter, Wike, Fubara, and the MPs who had been suspended were all grinning broadly.
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Wike told reporters that they had settled their differences and decided to “work together with the governor, and the governor has also agreed to work with all of us.”
“We belong to the same political family,” he said. “Yes, we all have disputes like everyone else, but you also have time to work things out, and that was eventually resolved today. We are here to inform Mr. President that we have reached an agreement on this matter.
But the reconciliation doesn’t erase the fact that there was an anomaly in Rivers State, the former PDP legal counsel said in an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Friday.
Jacob added that he would not be shocked if Fubara joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), citing recent defections to the party.
“I won’t be surprised if Siminalayi agrees if they offer him a carrot and tell him to come over to APC so that he can reclaim his seat,” he stated, adding that it’s all about me. And what shall I get?
“The fact that they are grinning and shaking their hands doesn’t alter the reality that River State is subject to an illegality; that is an anomaly and it shouldn’t have occurred in the first place.
It’s awful that it ever happened, but for me, it’s still drama. We’ll see what happens in the coming days.
“A democratically elected president should never be able to subvert democracy. Nigeria in particular shouldn’t experience it.
